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Moonlight Magic winning the Gr.3 Championship Stakes (2100m) at Ellerslie last Saturday.

Progressive filly Moonlight Magic took a significant last-start step toward the goal of a third Group One winner for The Sunlight Trust with her breakthrough success at stakes level.The boutique Waikato operation of Murray and Marg Hardy and Paddy Preston bred and races the daughter of Almanzor, who deservedly triumphed in the Gr.3 Championship Stakes (2100m) last Saturday at Ellerslie off the back of a string of strong black-type performances.Trained by Andrew Forsman, she had been a luckless f...

Patience pays off with foundation mare

November Rain was a standout filly for Matthew Goodson and Dianna Perron, but she has proven to be a test of patience as a broodmare for the husband-and-wife duo, which was rewarded on Saturday through the deeds of her daughter No Rain Ever.The Bill Thurlow-trained filly recorded her first stakes win when taking out the Listed Warstep Stakes (2000m) at Riccarton, adding to her previous placing in the Listed Uncle Remus Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie in February.“I am very happy,” Goodson said. ...

Lucrative weekend for Westbury’s Swiss Ace

Westbury Stud stalwart Swiss Ace continues to be a reliable source of winners and the Group One-winning sprinter was again to the fore at the weekend.His unbeaten son Domain Ace was an impressive juvenile stakes winner at Te Rapa on Saturday while Sabah Ace continued his march through the grades in Singapore with victory at Kranji on Sunday evening.Swiss Ace’s genuine three-year-old daughter Race Ace also collected her third black-type placing when the Fraser Auret-trained filly finished a gam...

Peterken breeds first stakes winner

Aimee Peterken has only been breeding thoroughbreds for a few years, but she is already starting to leave her mark.The Auckland-based marketing professional had previously been involved in competing and breeding sport horses, but a chance encounter at a social event led her to change tack and enter the thoroughbred world.“I used to be a show rider,” Peterken said. “It was an introduction to Micaela Murray (that got me involved with thoroughbreds), we were out at an event, and we shared mut...

Blackadder chasing Pearl bonus with Yoshime

John Blackadder will travel down to Phar Lap Raceway on Wednesday with the appeal of an Entain – NZB Insurance Pearl Series bonus for Yoshime.Yoshime has produced a pair of strong runner-up finishes to Rubicon Reigns and subsequent Rating 65 winner Contemplation Bay in early March and looks a strong chance of breaking maiden status in the fillies and mares event.“I gave her a couple of weeks off after her last race to give her a freshen-up, she had a pretty hard run and she’s progressed ve...

Disturbia all the way at Mornington

A week after his remarkable front-running heroics on Pride Of Jenni in the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m), in-form jockey Declan Bates pulled off another wire-to-wire performance with New Zealand-bred mare Disturbia in Saturday’s Evergreen Turf Handicap (1600m) at Mornington.A second placegetter in all of her last three appearances, the four-year-old daughter of Turn Me Loose dominated Saturday’s A$80,000 race from the moment the gates opened. Bates sent her forward from the outside gat...

Southern raid produces black-type gold for Sassy Merlot

An autumn trip to Canterbury has turned out to be career-defining for Matamata mare Sassy Merlot, who added a valuable black-type win to her record in Saturday’s Listed Daphne Bannan Memorial Great Easter Stakes (1400m) at Riccarton.A placegetter in the Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1400m), Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) and Gr.3 Rotorua Stakes (1400m) as a three-year-old, Sassy Merlot had struggled to find her best form through her four and five-year-old seasons.An encouraging third at Hastings o...

Magical finish secures Championship Stakes

Underrated three-year-old filly Moonlight Magic employed a barnstorming finish from last to secure a valuable stakes victory when she captured the Gr.3 Trelawney Stud Championship Stakes (2100m) at Ellerslie in spectacular fashion.The Andrew Forsman-prepared daughter of Almanzor had been thereabouts in all of her recent racing without having much luck, but ensured her maiden victory would be a memorable one in a race that will significantly boost her value when she eventually heads to the broodm...

Ace juvenile dominates in Starway Stakes

Exciting juvenile Domain Ace maintained his perfect record with a dominant win in Saturday’s Listed TAB Starway Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie.The son of Swiss Ace made a strong impression on debut earlier this month at Otaki, warranting co-trainer Graeme Rogerson to consider backing up in the Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) the following Saturday.Rogerson elected to bypass the Trentham showpiece in favour of targeting the Starway Stakes, where Domain Ace flew under the radar in bet...

Chaldean to shuttle to Cambridge Stud

From Cambridge Stud:We are delighted to announce that we have partnered with Juddmonte Farms in the UK to shuttle Frankel’s dual Gr.1 winning son Chaldean to Cambridge Stud.Chaldean emulated his sire, becoming only the ninth colt in the last 50 years to complete the Gr.1 Dewhurst-Guineas double and are the only father-son duo to complete the Dewhurst-Guineas double ever.In 2023 alone, Frankel sired 11 Group One winners, 27 Group winners and 42 stakes winners, more than any other stallion in th...

Matscot looking to end standout season on a high

Fresh off his rich payday after taking out last Saturday’s $350,000 TAB Southern Alps Challenge (1600m) at Riccarton, Matscot will return to the Christchurch track this weekend in search of more feature spoils.Initially set to target Saturday’s Gr.3 Coca-Cola Canterbury Gold Cup (2000m), trainer Sharon Robertson elected to make a late bid for the Southern Alps last week, which more than paid off for the local trainer.Her decision earned her and fellow part-owners $175,000, bringing Matscot�...

Auret’s trump card ready to play at Riccarton

Fraser Auret couldn’t find any reason not to send his ultra consistent filly Race Ace south to chase down a deserved black-type victory.The Marton trainer can’t fault the three-year-old, who will again be partnered by Lisa Allpress in Saturday’s Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Warstep Stakes (2000m) at Riccarton.“It’s always a case of race by race with these fillies and I was certainly mindful that she has had a big season and there’s only so many times you can ask these young girls to...

Richardson and Norvall kick week off with a bang

Matamata trainers Graham Richardson and Rogan Norvall were rapt with their treble at Arawa Park on Wednesday, and they are hoping they can continue that winning form into the rest of the week.Therapeutic kicked off the treble when taking out the Greenlight Insurance Brokers 1560 before Confiance and Darci’s Angel carried Social Racing’s colours to victory in the Novara Park 1560 and Campbell Infrastructure 1560 respectively.“I am absolutely over the moon,” Richardson said. “It’s good...

Wexford omen key for Waitak’s Quokka

An omen barrier may prove the key to Waitak’s success in a star-studded line-up for Saturday’s A$4 million The Quokka (1200m) in Perth.The son of Proisir is trained by Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott, and the latter flew from their Matamata base to Western Australia to be present at the Breakfast With The Stars promotional event, where he drew barrier 10 for the Gr.1 Railway (1200m) winner.While the gate assists Waitak’s racing pattern of settling back and showing his sharp sprint late...

Investigate a genuine Championship contender

Up and coming staying prospect Investigate promises to give another bold account of himself at Ellerslie on Saturday in what is likely to be the final appearance of his current campaign.The Tony Pike-prepared son of Dundeel has relished the step up to middle distance racing and appeals as a leading chance in the Gr.3 Trelawney Stud Championship Stakes (2100m).He is one of a quartet of strong black type chances for Pike, who also has Lanikai in the three-year-old feature while Rudyard contests th...

Talented frontrunner readies for Australian challenge

Good Oil has continued to impress Andrew Forsman this season and the Cambridge trainer will give the eye-catching frontrunner his first Australian test in Saturday’s Listed Mornington Cup (2400m).The son of Dalghar took time to develop, only breaking his maiden early as a four-year-old, but a season later he has rapidly stepped through the grades over middle-distance trips with 11 top-four finishes in his 13 starts this term.In his familiar pace-making role, Good Oil almost caused an upset in ...

Times Ticking looking to go back-to-back in Canterbury Gold Cup

Wairarapa gelding Times Ticking has an affinity with the South Island, and he will be looking to extend that record when he heads to Riccarton on Saturday.The eight-year-old son of Tavistock has won three of his seven starts in the south, including the Gr.3 Canterbury Gold Cup (2000m), Listed Easter Cup (1600m), Banks Peninsula Cup (1800m), and was third in the Gr.3 White Robe Lodge WFA (1600m) at Wingatui in February.He will return to Riccarton this weekend where he will attempt to defend his c...

Broodmare Eudora a grand WS servant

Eudora has proved to be an invaluable and much-loved member of the Waikato Stud broodmare band.A racing career was never a possibility for the daughter of Pins, but she has endeared herself to the Matamata operation with her deeds at stud and a 100 percent record with all six of her foals successful.“Eudora’s a great old girl, she had an early breeding start because she’s only got one eye and didn’t race and she’s done a fantastic job,” farm principal Mark Chittick said.The star of t...

Echoes of Zabeel: Almanzor quietly carving out his niche

Written by Kristen Manning for TTR Australia New ZealandFollowing Almanzor's remarkable Sydney Cup quinella, The Thoroughbred Report reminisces on another Cambridge Stud luminary, the legendary Zabeel (NZ), whose lineage consistently graced the winner's circle, shaping a rich heritage of racing success.A G1 Sydney Cup quinella puts Almanzor (Fr) in the spotlight, bringing back memories of another Cambridge Stud star who provided more than his fair share of big race first/second finishes.We are o...

Rich Hill reveals 2024 stallion fees

Off the back of another exceptional season for its high-class stallion roster, Rich Hill Stud has announced its service fees for 2024.Proisir, Shocking, Ace High and Vadamos all sired Group One winners and Satono Aladdin also continued to build on his burgeoning Southern Hemisphere record to sire another five Group winners.Champion sire PROISIR has continued his remarkable rise through the Australasian sire ranks and has now sired six individual Group One winners over the last 20 months, while h...

Meet The Breeder - Jay Millar

In this week’s Dunstan HorseFeeds Meet The Breeder we chat to Jay Millar who along with his wife New Plymouth trainer Janelle Millar and his late mother Jan bred the Listed Hawkes Bay Cup winner Testify Me (Atlante[AUS]- Cherry Bomb). Jay and Janelle operate Millar Racing from Palm View Lodge in Taranaki.Tell us the story of Testify Me?When Janelle first started training, we asked some studs for a horse to lease.  Windsor Park was one of the first to really support Janelle and Cherry Bomb...

Rebecca Donovan - Sunline Management Scholarship Blog 2

Even though spring is starting to show itself, the blossoms are out and the days are longer, my puffer jacket has still been my best friend. It’s hard to believe I am heading into my third month here in Coolmore! I've spent the last month in my original barn, and I've found the experience to be quite valuable. I have had the opportunity to continue to develop my skills in all aspects of foal handling including parading mares and foals for clients and leading for video updates, handling the old...

Breeders’ faith in War Machine rewarded

Jim and David Wallace are savouring the best of both worlds with their Ardsley Stud homebred War Machine.While they failed in two attempts to sell the son of Harry Angel at Karaka, father and son are now enjoying the three-year-old’s burgeoning racing career as part-owners of the last-start Listed Bendigo Guineas (1400m) winner.War Machine had fallen short of his $100,000 reserve at both New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale and Ready to Run Sale when offered by Ardsley.“Everybod...

Epee Beel adds to Monovale success

Epee Beel’s victory in Saturday’s Listed NZB Insurance Stakes (1400m) at Riccarton was a welcome result for breeder Monovale Farm.The three-year-old daughter of Epaulette became the first stakes winner out of Group Two performer Pipi Beel, who was bred by the late Paul Smithies, father of farm principals Joe and Max.Smithies senior sold Pipi Beel as a yearling for $75,000 to Murray Baker at Karaka 2013, for whom she went on to win three and place in three of her seven starts, including runne...

Surgenor set to unveil exciting juvenile

Joanne Surgenor had plenty of success a couple of seasons ago with multiple Group Two winner Showoroses, and now she is set to unveil a close relative that she believes has just as much talent.Showoroses was a standout for Surgenor, winning five of her 20 career starts, including the Gr.2 Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m), Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile and Gr.2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m), and also placed in the Gr.2 Eight Carat Classic (1600m), Gr.3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m), Cal Isuzu Stake...